Harlow Strandlund

Harlow William Strandlund, 84, died Oct. 14, 2021, at the La Casa assisted living center in Plentywood.

He was born to his parents Elmer and Erna (Haase) Strandlund in the upstairs bedroom of the farmhouse he was to eventually own on Sept. 27, 1937. He was a late-comer to the family, being 10 years younger than his sister Shirley and 12 years younger than his brother Doyle. When he was 13 years old, his father died and Harlow became the man of the house. He transitioned from attending the Hammond country school to high school in Froid and took over the family farming, helped by his uncle, Curt Haase.

He graduated in 1955 as valedictorian and signed up for college at Montana State in Bozeman. Originally wanting to be a chemical engineer, he discovered that he really didn’t like chemistry. He then found his calling, graduating with a bachelor’s in industrial arts and a minor in English. Due to farming responsibilities, he was only able to attend fall and winter quarters, having to skip spring so he could seed. During college, he went on a blind double date, meeting his future wife, Valerie Sedgwick. Things progressed and he told her he would marry her if she could bake bread. She mailed a loaf of fresh bread to the farm and they were married in Harlowton in 1958. The birth of their first child, Gale, in 1960 put a hiatus on Valerie’s college education. Upon Harlow’s graduation, they returned to live at the farm. In addition to farming, he was often called upon to help others repair equipment and build things.

In the 1960s, a large amount of cement was spilled in a local accident. He and his neighbor Merle Krogedal headed over with trucks and shovels, getting enough cement to pour a floor at Merle’s place and a floor in the barn at the Strandlund farm, thus laying the foundation for Harlow’s true calling. After his brother told him about a machine shop in Illinois that was closing, the family headed east and returned with an old moving truck full of machine tools that filled the old barn. Strandlund Welding & Machine Works was officially started. In 1975, a new shop building was ordered and construction began on the shop that still goes on today. An oil boom in the late 1970s and early ‘80s created a demand for seismographers, which in turn led to a demand for water trucks to make drilling mud. Soon, Strandlund Welding had 5+ employees and was making and installing a water tank per week, along with many other jobs.

Son Gale took over the farming, the oil boom went away and Harlow continued to work in his shop, maintaining a work ethic that never waned. After Valerie’s death in 2012, he only slowed down after son Dana began taking over the shop. Slowing down for Harlow meant spending time on his hobbies of restoring an old tractor, a large stationary engine and a Model A truck, balanced by playing ragtime on his piano, photography and reading. It was during this time that his long battle with cancer began. To the amazement of his oncologist, he defied the odds for many years.

He is survived by his sons, Gale and Dana; daughter, Mara; six grandchildren; one great-granddaughter; and his sister, Shirley Wagner.

The family will hold a graveside service at Big Lake Cemetery outside of Homestead on Friday, Nov. 5 at 1 p.m., followed by a celebration of life at Froid Community Center at 2 p.m.